OneTrack Mind
by Nukumi
Summary: She wears her heart on her sleeve and now their blood is on her hands.


**One track Mind**

_And I´d give up forever to touch you  
´Cause I know that you feel me somehow  
You´re the closest to heaven that I´ll ever be  
And I don´t wanna go home right now_

In the light of the afternoon sun, a golden-haired warrior braces herself against a tree. A coupious amount of blood is soaking her garments and the tree along with her. Three feet to her left lies a boy her age, one whom she's spent her entire life beside. He is a massive boy, and his pudgy cheeks bear swirly clan markings. He's been dead for an hour now. Twelve feet northeast of her are the remains of another boy she's known her entire life. He's a plain kind of guy, not someone you'd look twice at, and being underestimated had always been his greatest advantage. He'd tried to protect her, but he couldn't save her, and even his brilliance couldn't save him. His last breath passed his lips ten minutes ago. Further out are three more bodies: a red-haired girl and two males, but they're of no concern to the warrior anymore; her team brought them down, they no longer matter. What _does_ matter is important enough for the warrior to stop wincing and open her sky blue eyes. She's dirty, covered in blood, her clothes are ripped, and there's not a visible spot on her that's not a shade of blue,black, or purple. She looks like crap, and for once she doesn't care, because _he_ is there. Before her stands a boy, no older than she, with jet black hair and an expressionless crimson gaze. She smiles, and blood trickles out of her mouth and down her chin. She thinks he looks every bit as hadsome as he did the very first time she saw him.

She should feel guilty. She should feel guilty and shamed and completely remorseful because _they_ didn't have to take this mission. Some other team could have done it. But she'd wanted this; she had wanted to try. Her ambition has cost her best friends their lives and she's about to pay with hers too, and yet somehow she cannot find her regret. Somehow, she can't apologize for this emotion squeezing at her heart.

Part of her is wondering why he is still； why he isn't dealing the finishing blow. Another, bigger part of her is trying not to ruin the moment by wondering such things. If he is the last thing she's going to see, well, she's made her peace with that. She will die happy. Her smile widens and she grips the tree tighter; she's slowly going numb from the intense pain, and she doesn't want to spend her last moments face-down. Her smile puzzles the boy. He vaguely recognizes her face but her name eludes him. He asks her why she's smiling. Her reflex is to laugh, but it comes out sounding more like rough coughing.

"You're still gorgeous! Three years and you're still fucking gorgeous. Why couldn't you be ugly?"

Her words confuse him even more, and her wonders if this girl isn't delirious. Her eyes only leave him for a second, to briefly glance at the corpses around them, before snapping back on him.

_And all I can taste is this moment  
And all I can breath is your life  
And sonner or later it´s over  
I just don´t wanna miss you tonight _

"You always were the most talented of the nine of us, Sasuke-kun. A true genius. But you probably know that by now, huh?"

There's something about the way she says his name, the way she says 'Sasuke-kun', and it doesn't sound the same as when Karin used to say it. It's familiar to him, nostalgic even, and he remembers that this girl has some vague assocation with Sakura. The blonde is panting heavily and her eyes have taken on a slight glaze. He knows death will claim her soon.

"I missed you. When you left, I...well, I was a wreck! I was so angry and sad; I really wanted to hate you, you know that? I tried so hard to hate you, tried to forget you even, but I could only miss you."

He frowns. Hatred he could comprehend, but she _missed_ him? Why would she miss him? How could she miss him? Sakura and Naruto he could understand, but this one doesn't know him. He can't see why she would care that he left. Curiousity is really bombarding him today.

"Who are you?"

The anguish that flashes across her face is many times greater than what she'd shown when he thrust the Chidori straight through her little waist.

"I-I'm Ino. Yamanaka Ino."

His eyes are blank. The name doesn't set off any bells of recognition, but he does feel like that voice and those eyes have been close to him before. He knows she's a lesser shinobi, chuunin rank at best. He doesn't know why someone of her level dared to come after someone like _him_.

"What do you want?"

She looks at him, eyes even more glassy and pupils dialated. When she speaks, her voice is barely above a whisper.

"What...what do I...want?"

He says nothing and she looks as if she's actually thinking about it.

_And you can´t fight the tears that ain´t coming  
Or the moments of truth in your lies  
When everything feels like the movies  
Yeah, you bleed just to know you´re alive. _

"...I want...another...hug."

The sentence is so absurd Sasuke nearly laughs. She's about to die. To perish. To cease to exist _forever_, and her last request is...a hug? From him?

"One last hug, just...just like the old days. When we were gennin."

Sasuke debates it in his mind. This _little girl_ came all the way here and got herself killed for _a hug_. It's perposterous. It's insane. There's no logic to it, so he doesn't use logic in his choice either. He takes a step towards her, arms actually coming up, but she shakes her head in a silent 'no'. He stops, befuddled for the umteenth time. Weakly, she maneuvers around him, and he keeps his Sharingan on her, just in case she tries something. From behind him, scarlet-stained arms wrap loosely around his neck in a gentle display of affection. He can feel her hot breath just below his right shoulder.

This position, the scent of blossoms filling his nose, that voice, it all finally clicks in his mind like a puzzle being snapped into place. Ino, huh? So that was the girl's name who was always grabbing him. He'd never admit it back then, but it had always felt...kinda nice. He reaches up one hand to cover hers; it's as close to a 'you're welcome' as he can muster. One second later, her hands go slack. Her arms slip from his body and she falls backward onto the ground. He doesn't bother catch her, he knows she's already dead, but he does turn to look before he leaves the battle ground. A beautiful mess greets his eyes. She had died with her crimson-stained lips lifted in a peaceful smile.

Late that night, far far away, Sasuke sets up camp to rest for the night. His eyes close, but instead of his usual dreamless sleep, his mind sees a field of flowers. Within this reverie, the air is still and pungently fragrant with floral scents. He feels serene somehow. In the distance, he can see a figure, but as he moves towards it, it disappears. A soft, warm feeling embraces him and the scent of blossoms intensifies. Dainty, creamy hands are resting on his chest and shallow breaths are tickling his neck. He knows, without question, it is a girl. His sharingan isn't activated, and he can't look behind him at her, but he senses that he knows her. What's her name? The color gold keeps coming across his thoughts every time he tries to remember. He...likes this, he thinks to himself. Something feather-light caresses his cheek, and suddenly he feels inexplicably sad.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

_For what?_

The girl vanishes, the flowers fade out, and Sasuke's eyes flutter open.

_Why_. That was the last question; the one he didn't ask. The one he should've asked. He asked 'Who' and he asked 'What', but he didn't ask 'Why'. He still doesn't have an answer.

_And I don't want the world to see me_

_'Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

_When everything's made to be broken_

_I just want you to know who I am_

* * *

**A/N:** The image song is Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. I actually decided at the last minute to make this a songfic because I feel it strongly suits the tone of the story. I'm not wholly satisfied with it, so criticism is totally welcome. I do like my characterization of Ino; I've always perceived her as unapologetic and ambitious. My Sasuke is really a shot in the dark though. I haven't read that much of Shippuden, so I don't know how much his personality has or hasn't changed. I hope that I at least partially gave an accurate representation of fifteen year old Sasuke. Might edit this later if I get some good pointers.


End file.
